Water supplies in Syria deteriorating fast due to conflict, experts warn

Lack of access to safe water in the war-torn country is driving migration and disease and pollution, say hydrologists and humanitarian groups

War-torn Syria’s water supplies are deteriorating fast, triggering migration and disease and stoking a pollution crisis in neighbouring Lebanon, hydrologists and humanitarian groups have warned.

“Water security continues to deteriorate for many civilians [in Syria]. Evidence shows that control over power and water infrastructure is [being] used as a weapon of warring parties,” said Noosheen Mogadam, a policy adviser with the Norwegian Refugee Council based in Gaziantep on the Turkish-Syrian border.